our raison d'être

The Paradigm Shift Project’s Executive Director Rebecca Sweetman was working with a local environmental NGO in Indonesia when the December 26th, 2004 tsunami hit the west coast of Sumatra.  She became a relief worker overnight and realized how local organizations are amazingly adept at responding immediately to local needs.

Communities in North Sumatra and Aceh experienced firsthand how needs assessments failed them without their direct input.  From international organizations they received largely irrelevant and even damaging aid goods (such as powdered baby formula when there was no clean water to mix it with), and didn’t receive what the community needed most- prayer mats, sustainable reconstruction techniques, and midwives.

Local organizations have a great capacity to ascertain what is really needed by their communities, but often do not receive the funding required to implement their projects, as the global north is hesitant to invest directly in organizations of the global south for fear of corruption and accountability.  These fears are largely misguided. 

The global north needs to rethink how it contributes to development, and how their donations can be most effective.  By investing directly in the communities that need the funds, a much higher percentage of the donation goes directly to the organization’s programs.  Larger international organizations simply have larger overhead costs.  This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t support international organizations; this is to say that  it’s important that we support local organizations as well.

The Paradigm Shift Project plays a role here to link donors from the global north with organizations from the global south, while also giving local non-profits an educational and fundraising tool to use to reach new donors.

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how documentary films

can help create change

People know what their communities need most, but often there is a prevailing assumption that a community in poverty isn’t capable of making the right decisions to create a sustainable future.  In fact, these communities simply need resources to implement strategies for sustainability; resources which may be training, tools, funds, and/or capacity building.  Local non-profit organizations realize this, but often too lack resources to implement their programs. 

The Paradigm Shift Project believes that showing the world the needs of the global south in their own voices will mobilize the global north to make a direct contribution to improving lives across the globe.  These documentary needs assessments connect the global north to the global south - emotionally, intellectually, and philanthropically.

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